Cheeseburger Paradise Soup

*My mom gave me this recipe from Taste of Home magazine - I cut it in half because its just me and Andrew and the normal size makes 14 servings, you can always double it if you want. I added some variations as well. There was enough for us to both take it to work for lunch the next day and have two helpings at dinner.

Ingredients
3-4 medium potatoes peeled and cubed (if you use red ones you might need more)
1 small carrot chopped
1 small onion chopped (I used a vadalia so it was 1/2 of an onion bc it was huge!)
1/2 cup chopped green or red pepper
1-2 tablespoons, chopped and seeded jalapeno pepper (add less than that if you don't like heat or use some hot sauce, like the green tabasco or Franks)
2 cups of water
2 beef bullion cubes
1-2 garlic cloves minced
1/8 teaspoon pepper
1 lb ground beef (you could use turkey)
1/4 lb sliced fresh mushrooms (I left this out bc I hate mushrooms)
1 tablespoon butter
2 1/2 cups of milk, divided
3 tablespoons all purpose flour
1/2 package (8oz) Velveeta cheese cubed
Crumbled cooked bacon to garnish or shredded cheese

Cooking Directions

In a soup kettle, combine the first 9 ingredients and bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 15-20 mins or until potatoes are tender.

Meanwhile, in a large skilleet cook beef, mushrooms (if you added those) and butter over medium heat until meat is no longer pink; drain. Add to soup. Stir in 2 cups of milk; heat through.

In a small bowl, combine flour and remaining milk (1/2 cup) until smooth; gradually stir into soup. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened. Reduce heat; stir in cubed velveeta until melted. Yield about 7 servings.